Thiolate-protected platinum nanoparticles
have become promising
for applications in heterogeneous catalysis and the fabrication of
new materials for hydrogen storage. Once nanoparticles have been synthesized
and conveniently grafted onto a particular support, thiol removal
might be required before its use. Here, thiolate and sulfur electrodesorption
from nanoparticle and planar platinum surfaces are comparatively studied
by combining ex-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical
techniques. We show that alkanethiolates and sulfur adsorbed on Pt
surfaces are more stable against reductive desorption than these species
on Au substrates. Furthermore, for short-chain thiol-capped platinum
nanoparticles we observe complete removal of sulfur-containing species.
Hence, these results make this procedure suitable for its use in electrocatalysis.
As an example, we demonstrate that 2 nm thiomalic acid-protected platinum
nanoparticles markedly improve the performance of a hydrogen storage
alloy material, with no additional steps in the preparation of the
electrodes.
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